A billionaire has bought the islands owned by intercourse offender and accused intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Stephen Deckoff, the billionaire investor, made the acquisition of Nice St. James and Little St. James by his agency SD Investments LLC, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
Deckoff, a resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands since 2011, plans to develop a five-star luxurious resort on the islands.
“I’ve been proud to name the U.S. Virgin Islands residence for greater than a decade and am tremendously happy to have the ability to carry the world a world-class vacation spot befitting its pure grace and wonder,” Deckoff mentioned in an announcement.
“There may be merely no place on this planet as particular because the U.S. Virgin Islands and I’m humbled by the chance to share its splendor with guests in a way that can present financial advantages to the area whereas respecting its tradition, historical past, and pure magnificence. I very a lot stay up for working with the U.S. Virgin Islands to make this dream a actuality,” he added.
The venture will assist draw vacationers to the islands and create jobs, in response to SD Investments.
Deckoff is working to rent architects and engineers. The resort is projected to open in 2025.
Deckoff paid $60 million. The asking value for the islands, after they had been first listed, was $125 million.
Epstein purchased one of many islands in 1998 and the opposite in 2016. One consists of a number of buildings whereas the opposite has few constructions.
Epstein died in jail in New York Metropolis in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking costs. He pleaded responsible to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008.
Women Raped on Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands officers have mentioned that younger women had been raped on the islands.
Epstein and folks working with him “trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted and held captive underage women and younger ladies” on the islands, the islands’ legal professional basic mentioned in a lawsuit filed in 2020.
The women had been as younger as 11, the swimsuit mentioned.
Women had been lured to the islands with guarantees of cash, employment, and profession alternatives earlier than changing into ensnared in a community that typically seized their passports and lower off communication with the surface world, prosecutors mentioned.
One woman tried unsuccessfully to flee by swimming from one of many islands.
The alleged crimes befell from 2001 to 2018.
Quite a few women have mentioned they had been abused by Epstein and his associates at his properties, which included houses in New York Metropolis, New Mexico, and Florida.
Epstein’s property agreed to settle the case with a fee of $105 million.
Per the settlement, a “significant slice” of the proceeds of the sale of the islands will likely be paid to the U.S. Virgin Islands authorities, SD Investments LLC mentioned. The federal government is because of half the proceeds underneath the settlement.
The corporate didn’t reply to a request for remark.
By no means Met Epstein
Deckoff “by no means met Mr. Epstein,” a spokesperson advised The Epoch Instances through e mail.
Deckoff additionally had by no means been to both of the islands earlier than they had been positioned on sale following Epstein’s demise, which was dominated a suicide by New York Metropolis’s medical expert, in response to the spokesperson.
Deckoff shouldn’t be listed in Epstein’s notorious black e book, which was revealed on-line years in the past, or talked about in latest reporting by the Wall Road Journal, which obtained paperwork together with Epstein’s schedule. The studies revealed new connections with prime officers, together with CIA Director William Burns, and extra particulars on beforehand identified connections.
Deckoff has a web value of $3 billion, in response to Forbes. The billionaire, who based Black Diamond Capital, lived in New York Metropolis earlier than shifting to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
